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jonathan kaplan

With MLS Rivalry Week on the horizon, Dynamo fans can once again get excited about another #TexasDerby with FC Dallas. Although the rivalry has diminished in recent years with Houston's move to the Eastern Conference in 2011, Sunday's match is one that fans and players have marked on their calendars since the schedule was released in January.

So with that said, we take a look at the seven players who have seen both sides of the rivalry, having doned both the Dynamo orange and the hoops of Dallas during their playing careers.

Brad Davis

OK, so he played for the Dallas Burn before the Earthquakes picked up and moved to Houston, but the Dynamo's all-time leader in games played, games started and assists has been a pivotal member of the rivalry over the past seven years. Davis played 55 MLS games for Dallas and tallied eight goals and seven assists before heading to San Jose and eventually Houston.

With the Dynamo, Davis has won two MLS Cup titles and has played in 241 games in all competitions with 88 career assists. Davis has also been a menace against his former club, tallying five regular season assists as well as the final goal of Houston's 4-1 playoff victory over Dallas on Nov. 2, 2007.

Richard Mulrooney

Few players can match Mulrooney when it comes to consistency in MLS. The veteran mifielder, with 285 regular season games to his name, spent two seasons with Dallas and four with the Dynamo during his 12-year career. During his stints with the Earthquakes and Dynamo, Mulrooney was a force against Dallas, tallying one goal and nine assists

Adrian Serioux

The Canadian defender turned broadcaster makes history as the only player to have played for Houston, gone to Dallas and then come back to Houston. After helping the Dynamo to the MLS Cup in 2006, Serioux was selected by Toronto FC in the MLS expansion draft and quickly traded to FC Dallas. The 6-foot defender spent two years on the Dallas back line before heading back to Toronto and making his way back to Houston for his final season in MLS.

Ronald Cerritos

Along with Davis, Cerritos is one of the most accomplished players to don both uniforms after he finished his MLS career with 71 goals and 57 assists. The Salvadoran striker spent 2002 and 2003 with the Dallas Burn, tallying seven goals and seven assists before finishing his MLS career with the Dynamo in 2006. Cerritos lasted only half a season in orange before he was released in August 2006.

Dominic Oduro

Without a doubt the fastest man on this list, the Ghanaian speedster broke into MLS up I-45, playing 70 MLS games over three seasons with FC Dallas. After a brief stint with the New York Red Bulls, Oduro found his way to Houston and spent two season (plus one game) in orange. With seven goals and 12 assists in 44 regular season games in Houston, Oduro was a critical member of the Dynamo squad that advanced to the 2009 Western Conference Championship.

Je-Vaughn Watson

Watson gets the honor of being the only player in history to be involved in a trade between the Dynamo and FC Dallas. The Jamaican international played more than 40 games in Houston before the Dynamo traded the midfielder to Dallas prior to the 2013 season. Watson's role in the battle for El Capitan is TBD.

Abe Thompson

Can you really include a player who only appeared once for Houston? Sure you can. Thompson spent four seasons in Dallas before a mid-season trade in 2008 brought him to Kansas City. After 16 games in Kansas City, Thompson was sent to the Dynamo in exchange for striker Kei Kamara. Thompson makes history as the only player on this list to score for Dallas against the Dynamo, tallying one goal and one assist in seven career games.

Check out our walking tour of Santos Laguna's Estadio Corona courtesy of our man on the ground Anthony Vasser. The Dynamo and Santos will square off in the second leg of their CCL quarterfinal series tonight at 7 p.m. on FOX Soccer.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't enjoying the work SI.com has been doing over the past few weeks chronicling the most power figures in sports. They started with a list of the top 50 most powerful people in sports and have done separate lists for media members (including commentators) and folks affiliated with individual sports.

First was the tandem of Philip Anschutz, owner of AEG and Tim Leiweke, president of AEG. The two men came in at No. 6 on Wahl's list. Anschutz and Leiweke oversee the company that owns 100% of the LA Galaxy and 50% of the Houston Dynamo. AEG have been large proponents of the Dynamo since day one and were crucial in the club's development of BBVA Compass Stadium.

Coming in at No. 42 on the list is Dynamo president Chris Canetti. Canetti, who recently signed a three-year extension with Houston, has been with the club since 2006 and has served as president since Oliver Luck left for the AD position at West Virginia midway through 2010. Wahl had this to say about the Dynamo boss:

A star on the rise, Canetti has put together a successful operation in Houston while spearheading other important projects, including the recent Soccer Night in Newtown.

The rest of the list is flush with people involved in Major League Soccer, from owners to players to front office personnel. It's a good read for any American soccer fan.

In talking with Dynamo players and coaches after training on Monday, the word playoff was thrown around quite often. OK, maybe it was me asking them if Wednesday's match reminded them of a second leg of a playoff series, but since no one refuted the statement that counts, right?

Regardless, although the Dynamo are only one game into their MLS season, Wednesday's Champions League match against Santos Laguna is the type of situation the Dynamo have excelled in over the past seven years. Few coaches around Major League Soccer have been able to navigate a team through a home-and-away series better than Dominic Kinnear.

Since 2006, Kinnear and the Dynamo have participated in 12 home-and-away series. That stat includes the MLS Cup playoffs, CONCACAF Champions League and CONCACAF Champions' Cup. In those 12 series, the Dynamo have advanced eight times. Two of the four series losses came in the CONCACAF Champions Cup with a third coming in the Champions League and the fourth coming in the 2008 Western Conference semifinals.

In two of those eight wins, the Dynamo have closed out the series with a result on the road, something Houston will have to do on Wednesday if they want to remain alive in the 2012-13 Champions League.